Research: Film Trailer, Insidious

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Insidious is a conventional horror film that was produced in 2010 and released in 2011 in the UK. It was directed by James Wan. The plot line of the story is a boy gets possessed by evil spirits. The boy, Dalton falls and ends up in a coma. Months later strange things start happening in the house so the family decide to move  Dalton's mother is sure that the house is haunted but starts to see ghosts in the new house as well. She decides to get ghost hunters to come look at the house and they explain that it is not the house that is haunted it is Dalton. The boys spirit has left his physical body and is now lost in another world called the further where demons can possess the boy and cause him to do evil things. 

The film was given a 15 certificate and its gross revenue was  £6,827,578

Mise -en - Scene 

 From the trailer it is easy to tell that the film is set in a normal family home in a normal neighbourhood we can tell this because of the furniture such as beds, chairs and picture frames as in this screen shot. Also in this screen shot there is a rocking horse which has connotations of childhood and youth highlighting the fact the film is focused on a family with a young boy who is possessed.The rocking horse is stopped by the mother and looks as though it was moving by itself, the movement can create the sense of a ghost of some sort being in the room which in keeping with the horror theme. The first prop that is seen in the trailer is a metronome this is a device used to help with maintaining rhythm, the audience may associate this with time, as is symbolizing the pace of the film as well as used for hypnotising the actor as well as the audience, this creates tension.

 The walls all seem to be a white colour symbolizing purity and innocence which is obviously associated with a child's nature. The bed is featured in the trailer a lot, a bed is a place of peace which is odd as this is where the evil spirits are taking over Dalton. There is also a hospital setting featured which signifies death and blood.

In one of the shots there is the white bed sheets stained with blood showing that the innocence and purity of the boy has been ruined and is now taken over by the demons, the red symbolizing evil and danger in juxtaposition with the white. Blood is also a common convention in horror trailers also so this maintains the theme of the film and makes clear the genre of the film. Me and manny have seen on many trailers that blood is included and were thinking that we should include it in ours, this is something we are discussing at this stage in the planning.

Editing

The trailer starts with cuts between the father and the metronome, the title insidious cross fades onto the screen repeatedly throughout the trailer, this is so the word is incorporated into the storyline and allows the audience to see the connection between the title and the narrative of the film. There are a large amount of cuts throughout the trailer as there is a need to create the sense of horror and by starting off with slow cuts and then progressing into faster and more swift cuts creates the thrill that the viewer wants to receive. The amount of cuts are necessary in order to show the setting, characters, and set the mood, tone and atmosphere of the film. Many other horror trailers are put together this way.

Sound

In the trailer there is the diegtic noise of the metronome ticking which creates a sense of time and is used to hypnotise the father. There is then a transition and the noise becomes non diegetic and is played throughout the trailer which keeps the audience in anticipation. There is a lot of non diegetic crashing sounds especially when the insidious logo appears on the screen as it alarms the audience and again creates that thrilling sense. When the mother is shown looking through all the rooms the sound gets louder and there is a diegetic sound of baby crying suggesting panic and an unsettling presence. The opposing sound at the start compared to the end shows there is a gradual change between the mood of the film at the start to the mood at the end as at the start there is the diegetic sound of laughter and calm chatter, this is portraying that they are a normal family whereas nearing the end of the trailer there are torturous screams that get progressively louder emphasizing the increasing danger that this family face.

Camera
The first shot in the trailer is a close up shot of the metronome this quickly focuses the audiences attention towards this making, the time and rhythm of the trailer, as well as the hypnotising being involved in the storyline a significant feature and prop in the film.

As in this screenshot there is a Close up shot of the father in the film it shows the emotion and stress on his face which is not an expression you would associate with a father figure as fathers are thought of as strong and brave, but in this he looks defeated. The audience instantly detect the danger and panic associated with the film. The setting is dark in the background only a few lights lit possibly signifying that things are going to get worse and this is not the full extent of danger that will happen in the film or making it appear more real as he is in his living room which has connotations of family and this shows where this plot is based and offers some background for the viewer. I have noticed the dark sets in film trailers like the others as well which is set in a large family home with only dim or natural lighting coming through windows. Black has connotations of fear and the unknown and is associated with Halloween, the use of dark colours is persistent through out many of the film trailers i have watched and it is undoubtedly one of the factors that me and manny will be including when we construct our trailer.

There is then an establishing shot which is more clearly setting the scene as it is displaying a typical family home with a big garden suggesting it is in a clean friendly neighbourhood and again indicates that the film is centred on the family that live there. It is a low angle shot looking up at the house which makes it seem like it is towering over everything making it appear more important to the plot, as well as making it look menacing and daunting. The camera is at slightly slanted angle so the trees appear as if they are towering over the house making it seem more crowded, this suggests isolation, possibly from their neighbours as they are different because of the event of the boy being taken over.

There are then a series of mid shots showing the characters involved in the film, mainly the mother and father. The mother is first shown crouching over her son which makes her look like shes protecting him, like a caring mother would do, it also conveys the relationship between the characters as he looks like he is playing at home. There is then a cut to the couple laughing, they are within a very close proximity of each other suggesting they are together, maybe married. There is then mid shot including the father holding up his baby, the mothers eyes fixed on the child suggesting that this child is important and something may happen to a child. It emphasizes that this film is about children.

There is then a few shots, one being a mid shot showing a boy, we can tell this as he is wearing a cape suggesting a child playing, climbing a ladder, the scenery can't be seen clearly as it is completely dark making it seem like he doing this in secret and like he shouldn't really be there. The only prop that can be seen is the ladder highlighting its importance. There is then a jump cut to show a close up the ladder breaking, this is a close up as this is the point where disaster strikes and their is a rapid change in the plot. It then cuts to show the title insidious leaving the audience wondering what actually happened the boy.

 I think this is another effective shot which shows a shadow of a person in the window, showing perhaps someone who shouldn't be there is, the shadow is also very dark and distinct making it increasingly terrifying and is very creepy. 

This shot is a high angle shot showing the baby monitor and the mother, the mother is clearly alarmed which is portrayed through her facial expression, the baby monitor is placed higher than the mother showing the focus on the baby. Her expression suggests that she senses that her baby is in danger.

this is a mid shot of showing the hospital room that was previously shown in the trailer which looked clean and tidy looks quite the opposite in this shot as all the sheets are strewn across the floor with smeared blood as well as the distinctive hand print. The hand print draws the audiences attention to the blood and also makes it more personal towards the boy as it looks like a humans hand print. Handprints are also associated with children, the trailer therefore maintaining the child theme.the parents are surrounding the boy the father holding the clearly injured, possibly dead child, the mother is looking up for help.

Here is a close up, this is the only shot showing the demon that is possessing the boy and causing grief within the family. the shot is very abrupt and flashes on and off so the audience get just a glimpse so of it, the bright red contrasts with the grey dull colours in the rest of the shot so that it is hard to miss. As the trailer nears its climax there needs to be more thrilling and haunting shots to encourage the audience that this is the scary film that they have been anticipating. This trailer does this very effectively by having more fast paced shots and more panic stricken screams that ultimately frightens the audience.




Movie Poster:

This poster includes the same setting that was shown in the trailer interlinking the two, and also has the same connotations as the trailer, it being a about a family. The boy is shown to look like he is in a shadow and his eyes look very distant and its hard to relate to him showing that maybe he has another character or showing that he is not being himself. The font of the title is the same on the poster as it in the trailer, making this an identifiable logo. It also includes the films that the production company has made e.g paranormal activity and saw which both very successful horror movies, and if the audience has already seen them they may be more inclined to go see this one as well.This movie poster has the main character positioned in the centre which is a similar aspect to other horror movie posters i have seen and is something that me and manny will consider doing when it comes to creating our ancillary products.

This is another version of the poster and this has the quotes and 5 star rating printed on encouraging and convincing the reader that this is a must see film.